August 1, 2016

July 24, 2016 - 1 Timothy 6:6-12

Theme: Blindness starts with Coveting

1) Blindness to yourself

2) Blindness to your Savior

3) Blindness to eternal life

We’ve all heard tales of people who used
wealth and money excessively and lost all they had. It seems like a weekly
occurrence to hear about a former professional athlete or entertainer who is
now broke after wasting millions. Because of the prestige and attraction of
these stories, where millionaires lose it all, we often think that this is the
way it always goes. There’s an inner sense of self-reliance because we figure
that if you don’t have the money in the first place you don’t’ have to worry
about it taking control of your life and eventually running it into the ground.
It’s true that there’s a certain amount of truth in the famous song lyric,
“More money, more problems.” But to think that’s the only way it ever works is
complete foolishness. Very often, even though we don’t come into large sums of
money, and the problems that come with it, we suffer from the silent killer –
coveting.

Coveting is as big a problem as wasting
a fortune, but it’s not considered as serious because it’s a matter of the heart.
But all of the big problems in life start as little ones, and the actions that
the public sees, begin in the heart. The danger of over-indulgence and wasting
of money is not just a problem for the rich. Even the poorest of the poor can
suffer. It really is a matter of what is most important in your life and how
that shapes and influences the way you think and act. Things much smaller than
vast fortunes and millions of dollars can run your life off course.

Consider this story told by a prominent
Christian pastor: Money often comes between men and God. You can take two
dimes, the smallest pieces of money, and shut out the entire panoramic
landscape. Go to the mountain, to the ocean, to the open fields, and just hold
two coins closely to your eyes – the landscapes are still there but you cannot
see them because money has shut off the vision of your eyes. That’s the same
way coveting works in a spiritual way. It doesn’t take much to shut out the
vision of your heart – to get in between you and God. A little money, a few
possessions, just placed in the wrong position, will effectively obscure your
view.

Today, through Paul’s first letter to
Timothy, we remind ourselves, that Blindness starts with Coveting. It can keep
us from seeing ourselves, from seeing our Savior, and from obtaining eternal
life. May God bless us and grant us wisdom as we read 1 Timothy 6:6-12:

Now
godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this
world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and
clothing, with these we shall be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich
fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which
drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is a root of
all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their
greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 11 But you, O man
of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love,
patience, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal
life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in
the presence of many witnesses.

Part 1

It seems that the majority of people
live with the attitude that something is only bad if it hurts others. When it
comes to coveting, people often say, “It’s okay to look but not touch.” By
looking they mean much more, they mean desiring and wanting. Certainly,
coveting only hurts our neighbor directly
if it leads us to steal, or as Martin Luther elaborated in his explanations to
the 9th and 10th commandments, trick or deceive our
neighbor into losing what they have. And so the danger behind coveting goes
subtly unnoticed. But, we must also think about our relationship with God. What
does coveting do to that? Obviously, a person who denies God will not
think about this but it doesn’t change the reality of the situation. Sins of
the heart like coveting, though often looked at as harmless to others, wreak
horrible damage on our relationship with God, and in turn that damage will lead
to further damage against others.

But without God, no other earthly
relationship matters. While we cannot steal anything from the Lord and Maker of
creation, coveting can lead us to lack of contentment with what God has
provided in our lives. Paul reminded Timothy about how little we actually need
to survive. God has promised to provide for our needs, not all our wants.
Sometimes, in the pace of life we forget that and we expect more from God. But
what about others? God seems to allow the wicked to prosper so well and have so
much. Don’t we, who trust in Him, deserve a little more? If you’ve ever thought
that way you’re not alone. Many biblical authors lamented to God at the
suffering of the faithful in the midst of the prosperity of the wicked.

At this point we’re led to the first
thing that coveting blinds; the way we see ourselves. The more we’re surrounded
by money and wealth, and we are in America, the more we feel entitled before
God. It’s a simple desensitization to what the Bible tells us about ourselves.
We must admit with David that “we were
conceived in sin and iniquity (Psalm 51:5).” We must agree with Paul that “there is no one who is righteous before
God (Romans 3:10),” and therefore no one who is entitled to anything. We
expect God to give us things because He promises to provide and care for us,
but often we want things according to our agenda, not His.

To see the true picture of who we are is
to see that we deserve nothing, and not just in physical things. What Paul says
in verse 7 of our text can apply to our souls as well as our bodies. In a way,
remembering that we brought nothing into life and will take nothing out is
remembering salvation by faith alone. If we can’t even be fed and clothed
without God’s blessing, we certainly can’t be saved apart from His grace. Coveting
blinds us to our true nature and leads us not only to want more, but to expect
that we deserve it. And when we get to that point, there’s a temptation to
allow that coveting to make us angry toward God and others when we don’t get
our way. If we ignore God’s presence in our lives, we will remain blind to this
danger. It’s not just the action that makes something wrong. Very often the
thought in the heart can be much viler and twisted.

Part 2

For those many moments we have succumbed
to covetous intentions, God offers free forgiveness. But it’s at this point
that we must heed the next warning of spiritual blindness, for coveting itself
can get us to lose sight of Jesus, our Savior. Paul lays out the goal that God
has for each of us at the very beginning: godliness
with contentment. The idea of godliness is often despised in our culture.
Those who aspire to be godly are often shown to be hypocritical because after
everything they say and do, sin catches up. The very idea that someone could be
godly seems like an oxymoron to many people. If there’s one thing we know well,
it’s the decay of our entire being. Who can attain such a goal?

We must remember our Savior. Paul is not
pushing for an outward human piety. The kind of godliness he speaks about is
that which God the Holy Spirit has put into our hearts by faith. It is a gift
that is entirely dependent on Jesus’ atonement and one that comes to us outside
of any effort or good intention on our part. In this vein, it is very parallel
to the biblical concept of justification, another word that Paul uses a lot.
They are both gifts of grace from Jesus, the One who earned the right to give
them. That’s why Paul also says that we were called to the confession that we
make in this state of godliness. It is not something we take hold of on our
own, but something we hold dearly because God brought it to us in our fallen
state. Godliness certainly implies an attitude that we have and something we
offer to God and that’s true. But that doesn’t change the fact that even the
right attitude is a fruit of the Holy Spirit who is at work through the Gospel.

When Paul adds contentment to godliness,
we see the antidote to the sin of coveting. It reveals to us that being godly
does not have anything to do with how much or how little we have. Just as in
the way it comes to our hearts, so it also expresses itself entirely
independent of what we stake claim to in this life. Godliness is a virtue of
the heart; it cannot be bought with money or lost in debt. It is why Peter
wrote that “we were not redeemed with
gold or silver but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without spot
and blemish (1 Peter 1:18-19).” Though we did not have to pay for our
redemption, it still came at a cost. Paul wrote in another letter: For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you
through His poverty might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).

You don’t have to be a millionaire to
have this gift. The poorest and the meekest of the earth are heirs of the
kingdom of heaven. But you also don’t have to be a millionaire to lose sight of
it. Coveting blinds, and it can lead you away from the cross, where Jesus
freely shed that precious blood for you. And it’s not just coveting of money.
It can be anything. Anything that blocks your view of the truth. Anything that
comes between you and God and takes time away from His Word and Sacrament.
Anything that you desire more than safety in His grace and at His side.
Anything that leads away from godliness with contentment. It’s not just human
relationships that coveting can destroy, it can destroy the faith that connects
you to God.

Part 3

Paul says that godliness with
contentment is “great gain.” Isn’t is strange and sad that we so often live as
if it isn’t? We think that the next big, or small, thing that we want is really
the great gain, really what we need. The pair of jeans or shoes, the
smartphone, the gaming system, the tv, the job or house, the car, even the way
that others view us. We want and want and want, and convince ourselves that
that next big thing is the great gain, what we really need to calm our desires.
Brothers and sisters, these things are not the great gain. In fact, that’s not
even gain for us. It leads toward the path of those who “pierce themselves through with many sorrows.”

There is only one thing that is the “great
gain” from godliness with contentment, and that is the promise of eternal life.
Coveting can blind that vision too. None of the treasures of this life can
satisfy the void that sin has left on your heart. It’s not just the Bible that
teaches that, even secular research agrees, money cannot buy happiness. There
is only one way to godliness with contentment: faith in Jesus. A gift won for
you at the cross and a gift given to you through the Holy Spirit.

It’s pretty striking that at the end of
our text Paul speaks of holding onto eternal life as a struggle. The idea of fighting
doesn’t necessarily mean combat against others, even though the Christian life
is like that at times when it comes to Satan and temptation. The fighting can
also just be contending or competing for something of value. The Greeks used
the same idea for the Olympic contests. There is a prize to be held and one
desires to compete for it.

To the generation of Christians that
Paul was writing to, many would have to give up all in the heat of this
competition. They would offer the greatest that they had, their very lives,
rather than turn away from Jesus. The very word for “witness” is where we also
get the word “martyr.” All martyrs stand as a testimony that eternal life can
be had at no cost and often when all has been lost. When these Christians were at
their end, all they had was to hold onto eternal life; to cherish that for
which their Savior died for them.

What does coveting get us? How helpful are the greatest treasures of the world
to the ultimate prize of life with God? Beware of the blindness. It can happen
much easier than you think and through much simpler things than you might
assume.

We brought nothing into this life and we
won’t take anything with us when we leave. Why struggle so much under the
weight of materialism? There is much pain and suffering through it. Instead,
contend for something with much greater gain – godliness with contentment.
Contend the way that God wills. By staying close to His Word. By trusting in
Jesus and not yourself. By remembering that it is He who works in you both the
will and purpose of His good pleasure. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all
understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Pastor Mark Tiefel

Pastor Mark S. Tiefel graduated from Immanuel Lutheran College and Seminary in Eau Claire, WI, in May of 2012. He previously served Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church. He was installed at Redemption on April 12, 2015.